This week in adhesives news, a team of scientists from UC Berkley has reportedly developed a cheap heat-reflective coating that aims to make windows more energy-efficient.

The project is a collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Colorado and several California Institute of Technology team members. The coating developed by the scientists uses the unique geometry of bottlebrush polymers to reflect infrared light back outside while allowing visible light to pass through coated windows. The process reduces the amount of both heat trapped in buildings and the carbon dioxide emitted through less air conditioning use, allowing buildings in warmer climates to save more energy. Even though there are already similar projects on the market, the team hopes to reduce the cost of what is currently available to make it more accessible to the general public.

“The motivation of this work is to drastically improve the energy efficiency of buildings,” said Raymond Weitekamp, a scientist on the project.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy awarded $3.95 million in funding for the project a few months ago. Contract terms are currently being finalized, and the team is still in the early stages of research and development.

Read the full story here.

Other news stories from around the web:

1)      Mussel-Mimicking Adhesive Polymer Shown to Be Non-Toxic to Cells

2)      India is Still a New Market for Pressure-sensitive Graphic Films

3)      New Molecular Property May Mean More Efficient Solar and Opto-electronic Devices

4)      Breakthrough for Lab-on-a-Chip Material

Are you interested in news stories on a particular topic? Send your suggestions to Morgan Laidlaw at laidlawm@bnpmedia.com.